The Ohio State football team has had some issues on the offensive line all year. There was a heated battle for both the center and the right guard spots. Seth McLaughlin won the center spot and has been fantastic this season. Tegra Tshabola won the right guard spot and has been less so.
One offensive lineman who we didn't see much of once he lost his positional battle was Carson Hinzman. He, for whatever reason, didn't really get a shot to battle at right guard. This is despite guard behind his natural position. Prior to Saturday, he had only seen three snaps all season. He couldn't even get in during mop-up duty.
Hinzman started at left guard against Penn State after an injury to backup left tackle Zen Michalski forced Donovan Jackson to swing out to tackle. Hinzman played extremely well. In fact, he played well enough to be the starter at left guard for the rest of the season, according to Ryan Day.
Carson Hinzman will be a starter for the Ohio State football team for the rest of the year
Hinzman seems to have emerged from the doghouse. If you remember, he was benched for the bowl game against Missouri a year ago, presumably for the podcast he was on. The Ohio State Buckeyes needed him, and he played his way into that starting spot for the rest of the year.
Having Hinzman as a starter has always made sense to me. Frankly, I thought he should have been the starter at right guard to begin the season. Now, with four games left in the season, Hinzman will finally be a starter, this time at left guard. He's still young too.
The way the offensive line dominated Penn State on the final drive of the game was really encouraging. The Buckeyes are hoping they can keep that up for the rest of the season. They have two more easy games to get the chemistry up before IU and Michigan come to town.